The book was billed as an "anthropological memoir" by a "social researcher" and made much of the fact that Martin had a Ph.D. from Yale (though it is in comparative literature).

The New York Post and others raised questions about the book's accuracy, particularly Martin's claim to have lived on the East Side for six years (versus the three years she actually lived there) and the timing of a miscarriage.

In response, S&S announced it would add a note to future editions acknowledging, “It is a common narrative technique in memoirs for some names, identifying characteristics and chronologies to be adjusted or disguised."

Even with the controversy, sales of the book have been strong. It debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times ebook bestseller list, No. 2 on the combined print/ebook list and No. 3 on the hardcover list. It has remained on Amazon's list of its top 100 selling books since it debuted.

Martin was represented by UTA, Inkwell Management and the Miriam Altshuler Agency.